IT speaks volumes about the state of the Labour Party when figures such as Tristram Hunt seek employment beyond the House of Commons.

Mr Hunt, once talked about as a future leadership contender, may not be everybody’s cup of tea but his policies, values and outlook at least had some grounding in reality.

Compare that with the hard-Left half-wits who have taken control of the party. The likes of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott are not just wrong about practically everything, they seem to lack even basic competence.

It is not even clear where their loyalties lie. These are people who venerate the murderous IRA and describe foreign terror groups such as Hamas as “friends”. To say their appeal beyond the M25 is extremely limited would be putting it mildly.

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Tristram Hunt leaving the Labour Party is a good indicator of the internal chaos

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If the party can cling on to Mr Hunt’s seat in Stoke-on-Trent it will be a miracle. The people of the city voted almost 70 per cent in favour of leaving the EU. It is not difficult to imagine what even some previously diehard Labour supporters will have made of the party’s shambolic response to the referendum.

Meanwhile as Labour retreats ever deeper into its Left-wing bubble Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is explicitly targeting working-class communities and Theresa May is winning plaudits for diligently going about the work of Brexit.

If Labour does not change course then Mr Hunt will be far from the last sensible figure to desert the party.

Afghan Jamshid Piruz was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Holland for savagely murdering his female tenant. That did not stop him from being allowed into Britain where, just a few days later, he went on to attack two police officers with a claw hammer.

As a permanent Dutch resident Piruz had the right to travel across the EU unhindered. His case is yet another stark illustration of the dangers posed by open borders.

With national police forces failing to co-operate with each other it is surely obvious that allowing anybody and everybody to roam the continent plays straight into the hands of criminals.